Lubricator systems are widely used in oil exploration to enable wireline intervention tools to be introduced into the well. The system includes a tubular lubricator section mounted above the blow out prevented (BOP) and surface tree, which can be isolated to allow the intervention string to be installed and then pressurized to well pressure to allow the tool string to be lowered through the BOP into the well.
Current well intervention equipment dictates that when a tool string is required to be inserted into the production bore, an operator is winched up the rig approximately 30 feet, to a platform, in order to disconnect the lubricator section. The lubricator section is then swung to one side, to provide access for the intervention tool string, and the tool is inserted. The procedure is reversed to reconnect the lubricator section to the production tube. The lubricator section is then filled with fluid and pressurized to test pressures to ensure that once the surface tree is opened, and the lubricator exposed to well pressures, it will not leak or rupture.
The procedure described above for inserting a new tool into a well, and subsequently pressure testing the lubricator system to ensure its integrity, is a time consuming, and hence expensive, operation. In addition, the necessity of winching an operator approximately 30 feet in order to disconnect/reconnect the lubricator section generates safety hazards.